Oil Review Africa 4 2014

"African Finance: A look at the fiscal challenges facing the banking sector in financing Africa’s current and future energy projects "

Infrastructure investment is critical for the economic and social development of the African continent. The African Development Bank estimates current levels of infrastructure investment across the continent at around $45billion annually. However the World Bank estimates infrastructure-funding requirements in the continent at US$93bn annually for the next ten years. Almost half of this amount is needed to address the continent’s current power supply crisis which allows frequent blackouts and leaves many in energy poverty. Currently, two out of three sub-Saharan Africans — 600 million people — lack access to electricity, forcing them to spend significant amounts of their income on costly and unhealthy forms of energy such as smoky and scarce wood for indoor fires for cooking.